The broad objective of the study was to find out the extent of adoption and sustainability of selected goat health technologies at farmer’s level. The present study was conducted in purposively selected six districts from all the three agro-climatic zones of Bihar. All the three zones were selected for the study. Two districts were selected from each zone on the basis of highest density of goat population. From each selected district, two blocks were selected randomly to make a total of 12 blocks and from each block two villages were selected randomly, to make a total of 24 villages. The respondents who owned at least 5 goats were selected randomly in a way to make a sample size of 240. From each zone 20 faecal samples were also collected randomly for the parasitic load identification in goats. Data were collected through personal interview schedule incorporating all relevant dimensions. Interaction dialogue, secondary sources as well as observations were the other techniques of data collection. Majority of the farmers were middle aged, with medium level of goat farming experience, had not taken any kind of training related to goat farming characterised by low level of social participation, poor and socially disadvantaged groups had medium extension agency contact. Chi-square analysis showed the non significant relation between independent variables and categories of zones. Majorities of the farmers had small flock size, were landless farmers, were in medium income category and had medium knowledge level.
Content
Introduction
Research Methodology
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
Implications and Recommendations
Suggested areas for future research
References
Introduction
Livestock are integral part of farming system in India. Livestock sector plays an important role in Indian economy and is an important sub-sector of Indian Agriculture. The significance of livestock economy is noted by its massive contribution to the livelihood of the rural population. Further, about 73 per cent of total household in the rural area own some form of livestock. More importantly, small and marginal farmers account for three quarters of these households. Livestock sector plays an important and vital role in providing nutritive food, rich in animal protein to the general public and in supplementing family incomes and generating gainful employment in the rural sector, particularly among the landless, small, marginal farmers and women. Income from livestock production accounts for significant percentage of total farm household’s income in different states. Thus, an increase in demand for livestock products can be a major factor in raising the income and living standards of the rural household. The livestock sector functions as cushion on which the farmers can fall upon at times of climatic vagaries like drought when the crop sector fails. They are also a source of draught power for farm operation and energy for household purpose. Since livestock is distributed more equitably than land, they help in reducing the rural income inequality. The livestock sector has emerged as an important segment of an expanding diversified agricultural sector in Indian economy.
The share of agricultural sector in GDP declined from 34 per cent in 1981-82 to 15 per cent in 2010-11. The share of livestock in GDP also declined but not as steep as the share of agricultural sector. It remained between 5-6 per cent until 2000-01 and then gradually declined to 3.37 per cent in 2010-11 at 2004-05 prices. Nonetheless, the share of livestock in the agricultural GDP improved consistently from 15 per cent in 1981-82 to 27.28 per cent in 2010-11 (BAHS, 2012; Report of the working group on animal husbandry and dairying 12th five year plan, 2012-17). The Eleventh Five Year Plan envisages an overall growth of 6-7 per cent per annum for the sector and providing employment to more than 20 million people in principal or subsidiary status. The overall growth rate in livestock sector is steady and is around 4 to 5 per cent and this has been achieved despite the fact that investment in this sector was not substantial. In 2010-11, this sector contributed 121.84 million tonnes of milk, 63.02 billion eggs, 42.99 million kg wool, and 4.83 million tonnes of meat (Economic Survey 2011-12). Livestock sector formed a major component of poverty alleviation strategy of government of India. Livestock sector is closely associated with socio-cultural fabric of millions of resource poor farmers by producing varying degree of sustainable income and economic stability. The progress in livestock sector results in more balanced development of the rural economy and improvement in economic status of poor people associated with livestock.
The focus of the people is diverting towards rearing of small animal because of low initial investment and low rearing cost associated with it. The prolificacy of goat, pig and poultry are the influencing factors for rearing these animals. The returns are quick; losses, if any, are recovered soon which a poor can afford it. Goat husbandry is one of the important components of the livestock sector. There has been an over all growth rate of 3.55 per cent in spite of about 42 per cent slaughter and about 15 per cent annual mortality. Annual rural employment generation through goat rearing has increased from about 3.2 per cent in 1972 to about 4.2 per cent in 2003. World possesses 861.9 million goats and India with 140.54 million goat population stands second after China (BAHS, 2012). Goat population in the country has significantly increased from 47.14 million in 1951 to 75.62 million in 1977 to 124.36 million in 2003 to 140.54 million in 2007 (18th livestock census, 2007). Goat population in the country is poised to reach 170 million by 2025 (Vision-2025: CIRG Perspective Plan, 2007). Around 89 per cent of the goats in the world are reared primarily for meat. The goat sector generates about 4 per cent rural employment and 20 million families in India are engaged in goat keeping. Per capita meat consumption in India is less than 5 kg per year as against 13.7 kg in Pakistan, 38.6 kg in China and 58.6 kg in Brazil. Estimated annual demand for meat is 7.7 million metric tonnes against the availability of 5.6 million metric tonnes. The production potential of the meat production from goats has increased continuously from 235 thousand metric tonne in 1961 to 475 thousand metric tonne in 2005. Goats contribute 8.5 per cent of the total meat and about 3 per cent of milk production of the country. The milk production from goats has increased from 535 thousand metric tonne in 1961 to 2700 thousand metric tonne in 2005. India exported 3 lakhs live goats, 280 metric ton goat meat and 25 metric ton goat skins and earned over 4 million US Dollars during 2003. The skin production from goats has increased from 75.6 thousand metric tonne in 1980 to 130.0 thousand metric tonne in 2005. It indicates a great export potential for live goats, goat meat, goat skins and their products. With rising per capita incomes, urbanization and changing lifestyles, food habits are gradually veering towards meat and eggs. Demand for meat and meat products are income elastic and has been rising continuously (Kumar, 1998).
This has fostered rapid growth in meat production in the country in recent decades. Thus the rapidly changing patterns of demand for livestock and livestock products point to goat production being an important component of the agricultural economies of India (Vision-2025: CIRG Perspective Plan, 2007)
Small ruminants are generally reared in rain fed areas by landless or the resource poor farmers whose average agricultural holding is either very less (marginal and small farmers) or is not sufficient to devote for cultivation of crops (Kumar and Pant, 2003 and Singh et al., 2005). More than 60 per cent of the workers engaged in agriculture are either marginal or small farmers having an average land holding size of 1.32 hectares (2000-01) and it would be mere 0.68 ha in 2020, and would be further reduced to a low of 0.32 ha in 2030 (ICAR Vision, 2030). Due to increasing number of population the size of land holding is decreasing day by day and more number of farmers is becoming marginal or landless. For them goat husbandry would be the potential source of livelihood. About 80 per cent of the total agriculture force is involved in livestock rearing and majority of them are below poverty line. Goat husbandry plays an important role in the socio-economic development of our country.
Being with 5th largest goat population state, Bihar contributes about 7.63 per cent of India’s total goat population (Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, 2005). Goat contributes 31.17 per cent of total meat production of the state. In a study the production parameter in field conditions were as adult weight 15 kg, age at 1st kidding 422 days, lactation yield 56 kg and growth rate 30 gm per day (ICAR-RCER, Patna 2006).
The goat sector has a significant potential for round the year employment generation particularly in rural areas. This provides subsidiary source of livelihood to the people living below the poverty line due to lack of sufficient agricultural land to sustain, particularly in the draught prone, hilly, tribal and other remote areas where crop production on its own may not be capable of engaging them fully. Goat sector provides cheap nutritional food of animal origin to millions of people in our country and also generate gainful employment, provides enormous amounts of organic manure. Above all the goat converts vast quantities of crop residues of little value into valuable milk, meat and other products for human use. The goat have thus rightly called to act as food factories, the powerhouses, the fertilizer plants and mobile banks for vast majority of poor and landless labourers of the country. Implementation of the need based programmes will help in generating technologies and strategies for improving milk and meat production from goats which in turn will improve the socio-economic status of small and marginal farmers and landless labourers most of whom rear goats for their livelihood security. In addition, the increase in productivity will provide additional nutritional securities to the teeming millions through availability of animal products viz. meat and milk. Improvement in quantity and quality of the goat meat and milk will also open avenues for large scale export earnings. This shows that this species has great potential as meat animal.
However, in case of landless laborers and marginal farmers rearing of large ruminants specially the high yielder are mostly not possible due to shrinkage of common property resources (grazing land) and financial constraints but farming of small ruminants has more or less overcome these problems and can contribute additional income for the family. Goat, in true sense, is called as poor man's cow due to its tremendous economic importance in contributing milk, meat and ultimately the household nutrition security and livelihood to the poor people. Rainfall had a negative but non significant impact on the performance of goats. This was so because goats are hardier than sheep and can adapt to all types of climates and management conditions (CIRG 1997).
Parasites are a major constraint on animal productivity throughout the world. Gastrointestinal nematodes are ubiquitous parasites of grazing ruminants and cause decreases in survival, live weight gain, wool and milk production and reproduction performance. These losses can be particularly severe in developing countries where control measures are less readily available. Gastrointestinal parasitic infections in small ruminants are of considerable economic importance because small ruminants’ rearing has been a major source of income especially to the marginal farmers and labours of the country (Bandyopadhyay, 1999). Parasitic problems are a serious problem in goat. Parasitic infection do not show heavy rate of mortality, however there occurrence being chronic, most of the time leads to serious production losses.
Advantages of goat keeping
In many parts of the world where the geophysical properties of the terrain are not suitable for other livestock species, goats seem to be the best choice. The role of goats in supplying food to humans has been well stated by many researchers (Devendra, 1985). Based on the accumulated information on goat characteristics, it can be stated that goats have a specific place in the animal agricultural economy of many countries. These characteristics can be summarized in the following points:
1. Goats can withstand heat stress and can endure prolonged water deprivation. They have additionally great adaptability to adverse climatic and geophysical conditions, where cattle and sheep cannot survive.
2. They can efficiently utilize poor quality forage and cover long distances looking for food. Their peculiar feeding habits make it easier to choose diets to meet their requirements.
3. Goats are the most prolific domesticated ruminant. Faster reproduction contributes to the genetic progress that can be achieved and enables their owners to recover quickly.
4. Farmers and pastoralists are increasingly relying on goats as means of survival and a way of boosting their income (Peacock, 2005). The increasing frequency of droughts, with long-term environmental degradation is causing pastoralists to change from cattle or sheep to camels or goats.
5. Overgrazing makes rangelands suitable for browsing species such as goats.
6. The widespread decline in services supplied by governmental agencies encourages farmers to move from keeping cattle to goats.
7. Goats provide their owners with a broad range of products and socio-economic services and have played an important role in the social life of many people being used as gifts, dowry, in religious rituals and rites of passage (Peacock, 1996).
Goats, especially dairy ones, are an ideal species for poverty reduction and economic development for the poor in developing countries. Several reasons make goats particularly attractive for poverty reduction and improvement of family food security and livelihood of the poor in developing countries:
1. Goats are easily acquired by the poor as they require modest starting capital.
2. They can easily be tended by the weak, women or children.
3. They provide people by valuable nutrients.
4. Many people cannot drink cow milk as they are allergic to it. Several studies indicated that people with cow’s milk allergy could tolerate goat’s milk (Restani, 2004).
Adoption of Improved Technologies by Goat Farmers
Adoption of innovations refers to the decision to apply an innovation and to continue to use it (Rogers and Shoemaker, 1971). A number of technologies are available for productivity improvement of goats. Technological and management options are the only alternatives to accelerate growth in the productivity of goats, which is low in the traditional system of production. The use of vaccines such as PPR and FMD and medication for internal as well as external parasites need to be used as recommended for effective prevention of diseases and improved productivity. Disease prevention is more economical than treatment and some diseases can not be treated. In these cases the use of external and internal parasite remedies as well as vaccines as a prophylactic treatment are the most effective means of disease control (Hunter, 1993). Studies on returns to investment in livestock research are limited. However, sporadic evidences indicate a very high payoff to investment in livestock research and development (Kumar et al., 1977; Gaddi and Kunal, 1996). Despite this, the application of many technologies in the field remains limited. Except for crossbreeding, not much information is available regarding adoption of other technologies.
An increased level of adoption of technologies and availability of good quality breeding stock would be essential to make the goat farming more profitable. Most of the farmers are eager to adopt the improved technologies, but the absence of any support system to provide quick access to the latest information and technologies and weak input delivery system resulted in poor adoption. Crossbreeding technology contributed to 11 per cent increase in milk production at the national level, and 57 per cent in Kerala. Micro-level evidence revealed that the average milk yield of crossbred lactating cows and graded Murrah buffaloes was significantly higher than that of lactating non-descript cows and local buffaloes due to adoption of cross breeding technology. Lack of awareness, poor accessibility to technologies, and lack of financial resources were the major constraints to adopting improved dairy technologies (Joshi et al., 2005).
Sustainability of technology
Sustainability has been evolved from the original meaning ability to continue. Sustainability is the successful management of resources to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of environment and conserving natural resources. There are number of issues which have to be considered while applying sustainability yard stick to a system. There are two concepts of sustainability, one, the economic sustainability is production and consumption oriented and second, the ecological sustainability has sustenance of people and biodiversity conservation as its focal points. Sustainability referred to the effective management of resources for improving the standard of living of the adopters and at the same time, the environment protection and conservation can also be ensured. Moreover, it has been realized that people should manage their own resources by means of their effective participation, so that our development programmes can be need-based, pro-people and more dynamic in nature. FAO (UN) defines sustainable agriculture as the management and conservation of the resource base and the orientation of technological and institutional changes in such a manner as to ensure attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations. Such sustainable development is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable.
All the definition and description of sustainability indicate the need for developing a comprehensive understanding of the term sustainability in simple ways so that it could be understand with clarity. Therefore, sustainability has been popularly defined as using the natural resources for meeting the present needs without jeopardizing the future potential.
Scope of the problem
Though our country is well endowed with large number of livestock, the production and productivity in animal sector is still very low. Many useful goat husbandry technologies have been evolved by research system and have been transferred to the goat owners to derive the benefit and enhance the production and productivity at their farms. Still, many reports and studies have pointed out that only 30 per cent of the generated technologies have reached to the farmers, suggesting that much more concerted efforts are to be made to transfer the available technology to the farmers. Further more, technology transferred are not being widely adopted by farmers as they are not suiting to their circumstances. Researches show that most of the farmer not following general managemental practices like feeding of concentrate and mineral mixture, feeding of colostrum to calves immediately after birth, deworming, castration, dehorning, disinfection of naval cord, vaccination and AI (Tiwari et al., 2009). The Royal Commission on Agriculture (1928) observed that, “in no sphere has scientific research conferred greater benefit on agriculture than by provision of means of controlling livestock diseases”. Incidence of diseases and parasitic infestations are the major constraints to the development of goat enterprise in India. Diseases in goats result in very high mortality, ranging from 5 to 25 per cent in adults and 10 to 40 per cent in kids. The major constraints to adopting the annual preventive goat health calendar are farmers’ lack of awareness about prophylactic measures, non availability of vaccines and drugs on time; and poor veterinary services. Thus, there is need to assess and refine the technologies to make it more appropriate (Kumar et al., 2005). The various dimensions associated with the sustainability of the goat health technologies need to be studied. The potential of new technologies need to be explored and fully utilized to maximize the out put. The extension research intervention is imperative which will through light on many relevant aspect of sustainability of goat health technologies. The technologies generated, disseminated and adopted by farmers need to be studied on scale of sustainability to find the fate of these technologies generated at heavy cost.
The adoption and sustainability of goat health technologies has not been studied before and there was clearly a research gap. In the present day, it is utmost important that the sustainability dimensions of the developed and transferred technologies should be looked into and each new technology should satisfied the concept and dimension of sustainability. Keeping these points in view the present study was conducted with the following objectives:
Objectives of the study
- The broad objective of the study was to find out the extent of adoption and sustainability of selected goat health technologies at farmer’s level.
Specific
1. To study the socio-personal and socio-economic profile of goat rearing farmers in different agro-climatic zones of Bihar.
2. To analyze the level of adoption of goat health technologies among farmers in the study area.
3. To study the perceived sustainability of goat health technologies among farmers in the study area.
4. To identify the constraints being faced by the goat farmers in adoption of technologies.
5. To assess the parasitic worm load in goat through faecal examination.
Need and practical utility of the study
In past many useful technologies related to goat husbandry have been generated by the research institution which have been transferred to the goat farmers to enhance their production and productivity. Except AI technology, there is lack of information related to adoption of animal health technologies especially in goat sector. However technologies generated have not been fully adopted by farmers at field level. The general criticism is that the technologies generated are not appropriate, sustainable and suiting to farmer’s micro- environment. The findings will help the scientists/research organization to get field level situation so that they can be modified accordingly and widely adopted by goat farmers.
There are some efforts have been made to study sustainability of technology issue in case of large animal but very little attempt has been made to study sustainability of technology in case to small ruminants i.e. goat. The proposed study is expected to explore the adoption level of selected goat health technologies and their sustainability.
The study also assumes great importance as these technologies are being assessed and refined by the research system to make it more appropriate, acceptable and profitable as well as the extent to which this has been attempted and being adopted by the farmers. There are urgent needs to make detail probe on all these relevant issue through empirical research. Little research has been done in India on the general characteristics of goat farmers and on the adoption of livestock technologies. The present study would help to understand the socio economic characteristics of small ruminant farmers, which is essential for optimum production performance and faster adoption of scientific technologies.
This study will also depict detailed information on technological, infrastructural and extension gaps. This would help planners and implementers of goat developmental programmes make suitable recommendations and suggestions. Extension workers and state animal husbandry department on the basis of findings may take proper step to improve adoption level as well as sustainability of technology.
The findings of the study would be helpful to the small ruminant research centre, and planners to develop area specific and need based technology for development of goats, as well as for upliftment of socio-economic status of farmers. The study will help in identification of the type of parasitic infection in the area.
This research will certainly show a path for future development and adoption of goat health technologies to improve the quality and production performance of the goat husbandry.
Limitations of the study
The study was an ex-post facto in nature and the responses were based on the ability of farmers to recall the information objectively and their frankness and fairness in furnishing the required information. Moreover, prejudices and biases cannot be ruled out. The study had the usual limitations of time and resources generally encountered by the student investigator. The study was confined to only six districts covering a few villages, due to resource and time constraints of the research and thus limited to the specified area, thus generalized information would need further careful investigation in other parts of the country. Obviously, the findings emanating from the study would be applicable in similar small ruminant pockets elsewhere.
Chapter-2
Research Methodology
It deals with the sampling design, theoretical orientation of the research problem, variables studied and their empirical measurements, tools of data collection and statistical methods used in the analysis of data.
The present study has been described in the following sub heads:
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Sampling procedure
3.3 Variables and their measurement
3.4 Tools and methods used for data collection
3.5 Statistical and analytical procedures
3.1 Research Design
Based on the nature of research problem, Ex-post facto research design was followed in the present study. Kerlinger (1983) defined Ex-post-facto research design as any systematic empirical inquiry in which the independent variables have not been directly manipulated, because they have already been occurred or they are inherently not manipulated.
3.2 Sampling Procedure
3.2.1 Locale of the study
The state of Bihar was selected for the study, being the 5th largest goat population, state Bihar contributes about 7.63% of India's total goat population. The state occupies a vast area under rain fed system with regular occurrence of either flood or draught or both. Hence there is a tremendous scope of goat farming that can meet up the large gap between demand and supply of meat in the state. Besides that, the investigator’s acquaintance with the local dialect and customs of the farmers in the study area was helpful in developing good rapport and ensure frank expression of the respondents.
The total goat population is about 10 million of which 9.7 million belong from rural and 0.3 million from urban area (18th Livestock Census, 2007). The goat available in Bihar state is mostly of Bengal breed. However, crosses with other breeds like Jamunapari, Barbari, Sirohi and Jakharana are also available.
Bihar is located in the eastern part of the country (between 83°-30' to 88°-00' longitude). It is an entirely land–locked state, although the outlet to the sea through the port of Kolkata is not far away. Bihar lies mid-way between the humid West Bengal in the east and the sub humid Uttar Pradesh in the west which provides it with a transitional position in respect of climate, economy and culture. It is bounded by Nepal in the north and by Jharkhand in the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two unequal halves by the river Ganga which flows through the middle from west to east.
3.2.2 Selection of agro-climatic zones
Bihar is comprised of three agro climatic zones based on rainfall distribution, irrigation pattern, soil characteristics, cropping pattern and other physical, ecological and social characteristics, and these are Zone–I North West Alluvial Plains, Zone–II North East Alluvial Plains, Zone–III South Bihar Alluvial Plains (Ghosh, 1991). The districts falling under each zone are as follows:
i. Zone–I North West Alluvial Plains: This zone covers the districts of Bettiah, Motihari, Gopalganj, Siwan, Vaishali, Seohar, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Darbhanga, West & East Champaran.
ii. Zone–II North East Alluvial Plains: This zone comprises Purnea, Katihar, Saharsa, Madhepura, Araria, Kishanganj, Supaul, Khagaria, Begusarai.
iii. Zone–III (A & B) South Bihar Alluvial Plains: Comprising Patna, Gaya, Buxar, Jehanabad, Nawada, Nalanda, Rohtas, Bhojpur, Aurangabad, Kaimur, Banka, Munger, Jamui, Lakhisarai, Shekhpura, Bhagalpur.
Table 2: Important physiographic features of the Agro-climatic Zone
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(Bihar’s agriculture development: opportunities & challenges - A report of the special task force on Bihar, GoI, New Delhi, April, 2008)
3.2.2.1 Cropping Pattern
Cropping pattern in dominated by cereals. Rice-wheat cropping system occupies more than 70 per cent of the gross cropped area.
3.2.3 Selection of districts
To assess the real status of adoption and sustainability of goat health technology in different zones, two districts were selected from all the three zones on the basis of highest density of goat population as per the Livestock census, 2003, thus, comprising six districts from all three zones of Bihar. The selected districts are given in Table 3.1.
Table 3.2: Selection of blocks and villages
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3.2.5 Selection of respondents
The respondents who owned at least 5 goats were selected randomly. Ten respondents from each village were selected in a way to make a sample size of 240. Hence, from each zone, 80 farmers were selected and the final samples were of 240 respondents on basis of mixed sampling technique. Adopted goat health technologies were identified and selected based on review of literature, informal discussion with researchers/veterinary officers and KVK personnel of the study area. From each zone 20 faecal samples were also collected randomly for the parasitic load identification in goats.
3.3 Variables and their measurement
Based on the theoretical orientation, available literature and opinion of experts in the field of extension education, the following variables were selected for the study (Table 3.2).
Table 3.2: Variables along with empirical measurements
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3.3.1 Empirical Measurements of the Variables
The methods and procedures for the measurement of variable are given below:
3.3.1.1 Age: Age was operationally defined as the number of years the individual completed chronologically. The goat farmers were categorized into low (<Mean-SD), medium (between Mean + SD) and high (>Mean + SD) age groups based on mean and standard deviation.
3.3.1.2 Self education: Self education was operationally defined as the number of years the respondent attended teaching institutions. The respondents were grouped into six categories and the scoring for different categories is given below:
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The frequencies were calculated for six categories.
3.3.1.3 Family education status: Family education status was defined as the overall education level of all the family members. The family education status was computed by using the formula given by Ray in the year 1967.
FES= Total educational score/Effective family size
Total educational score= Sum of educational score of each individual of the effective family
Effective family size= Total number of eligible family members i.e., excluding children of below 6 years of age. Respondents were categorized into low (<Mean-SD), medium (Between Mean+SD) and high (>Mean+SD) family education status groups based on mean and standard deviation.
3.3.1.4 Caste: According to Lundberg et al. (1968) caste is a social category, whose members are assigned a permanent status within a given hierarchy and whose contacts are restricted accordingly. The respondents were classified into three groups according to their castes as schedule caste, other backward and general category. The frequencies were calculated for different categories.
3.3.1.5 Religion: Religion was measured and categorized to know, whether the respondent was Hindu or Muslim. The frequencies were calculated for different categories.
3.3.1.6 Family type: Family type was operationally defined as the type of family the respondent associated with (joint or nuclear family). Open ended and the score was given as below
i. Nuclear family =1 ii. Joint family =2
The frequencies were calculated for the two categories.
3.3.1.7 Family size: Family size was operationally defined as the number of family members in the family. Open ended and based on mean and standard deviation the farmers were grouped small, medium and large family size.
3.3.1.8 Primary occupation: Primary occupation was operationally defined as the vocation in which a respondent spends major part of his time and attention. The respondents were enquired for primary occupation and secondary occupation operationally defined as the vocation in which a respondent take part in addition to the primary occupation. Occupation was scored as below:
Goat farming as primary occupation 1
Goat farming as secondary occupation 2
The frequencies were calculated for the categories.
3.3.1.9 Social participation: Social participation referred to the degree of involvement or association of the goat farmers with any formal or informal social, political, economic etc organisation/institution as a member or office bearer. Accordingly, they were categorized as;
Member in one organization (0),
Office bearer in any organization (1)
Neither member nor office bearer (2)
The respondents were categorized equally into low, medium, high group of social participation on the basis of maximum and minimum scores achieved by the respondents.
3.3.1.10 Credit behavior: Credit behaviour in the present study was defined as the source from which farmer obtained the credit for goat farming. The frequencies were calculated for the categories.
3.3.1.11 Economic motivation: It referred to animal husbandry occupation of goat farmer in term of profit maximization and the relative value placed by him on economic ends. Total score of the respondents were taken and categorized into low (Mean-SD), medium (Mean +SD) and high (Mean+SD) economic motivation group based on mean and standard deviation.
3.3.1.12 Employment generation: It referred to the use of manual labour including both hired and family labour utilized for various operations in the process of goat enterprise in a year. It was quantified by knowing the actual time in days devoted by the respondent in each of the goat husbandry activities. The respondents were then categorized into three groups as low, medium and high employment generation categories based on their mean and standard deviation.
3.3.1.13 Training received: It referred to the type of training received, if any by the goat owners in scientific rearing of goats. The frequencies were calculated for the categories.
3.3.1.14 Production performance of goat: It referred to the measurement of various production parameters viz. Adult weight Age at 1st kidding, Kidding interval, Average litter size, Lactation yield, Lactation length, Twining and Triplicate kidding. The respondents were categorized equally into low, medium, high group on the basis of mean and standard deviation for the production performance. The frequencies were calculated for the categories.
3.3.1.15 Experience in goat farming: It was operationally defined as the total number of years the respondent had been engaged in goat farming. Open ended and based on mean and standard deviation, the farmers were categorized as low (Mean-SD), medium (Mean+SD) and high (Mean+SD) farming experience based on mean and standard deviation.
3.3.1.16 Land holding: It operationally referred to the total land in acres possessed by the respondent. The respondents were categorized into four groups according to land holding. The scoring done as below
Landless (0 acre) 0
Marginal (< 2.5 acre) 1
Small (2.5-5.0 acres) 2
Large (> 5 acres) 3
The frequencies were calculated for the categories.
3.3.1.17 Flock size: It referred to the total number of goat possessed by the respondent at the time of investigation. It was measured with the help of a schedule and the herd was categorized as small, medium and large size based on class interval.
3.3.1.18 Herd size: It referred to the total number of livestock possessed by the respondent at the time of investigation. It was measured with the help of a schedule and the herd frequencies were calculated. Based on the responses, they were categorized into low (Mean - SD), medium (Mean + SD) and high (Mean + SD) herd groups based on mean and standard deviation.
3.3.1.19 Marketing practices: It referred to the most frequently used marketing practices followed by the surveyed households for selling goat. The data was collected with the help of a schedule developed for this purpose.
3.3.1.20 Income generation: It referred to the income earned in rupees by the respondent family in a year from various activity of goat rearing on his recall basis at the time of enquiry. Based on the responses, they were categorized into low (Mean - SD), medium (Mean + SD) and high (Mean + SD) income groups based on mean and standard deviation.
3.3.1.21 Knowledge level in goat health husbandry: Knowledge is defined as those behaviour and test situations which emphasize the remembering either by recognition or recall of ideas, materials or phenomenon (Bloom et al., 1956). In the present study, it was operationalised as to the extent of knowledge, the respondents possessed regarding various goat health practices at the time of interview. Knowledge on goat health was assessed through knowledge tests developed by Rajkamal (1993) which was later modified as per the needs of the study. To measure the level of knowledge for each of the correct answer the score 1 was assigned while for incorrect response score 0 was given. The summation of scores over the statements constitutes the knowledge level of the respondents. On the basis of the scores obtained by the respondents, they were categorized into three groups as low, medium and high knowledge level based on their mean and standard deviation.
3.3.1.22 Extension agency contact: It denoted the frequency of meeting of the farmers with the extension personnel and change agents for alternative solutions to various problems and latest know- how of goat husbandry. Respondents were asked to give their response on a four-point continuum i. e. frequently to never with their respective scores ranging from 4 to 1 and never is given score 0. Based on mean and standard deviation, the farmers were grouped into low, medium and high level of extension agency contact.
3.3.1.23 Source of information: It referred as the degree to which the respondents maintained contact with the informal and formal organisations to get information on goat health technology. The instrument consisted of 10 items in which 6 were formal and 4 were informal sources. The responses were rated on four point continuum i.e., Frequently, occasionally, sometimes and never with scores of 3, 2, 1 and 0 respectively. Never is given score 0. The total scores were obtained by adding the weights on the above items. The total score for each respondent was calculated by adding the scores. Based on mean and standard deviation, the farmers were grouped into low, medium and high level of source of information.
3.3.1.23 Adoption of selected goat health technologies: The level of adoption was operationalised as the extent to which one makes use of the recommended technologies in daily life. In this study, the degree of adoption was measured on the recommended goat health technology. The score was assigned for the adoption of each technology in the following way.
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The total score for a respondent is obtained by summing up the score obtained on each technology. The minimum score one could score was 0 and the maximum score was 10. The adoption levels of the respondents were measured by making use of adoption index developed by Karthikeyan (1994).
Adoption Index = Respondents’ total score
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Depending upon the extent of adoption of health technologies, the respondents were categorised into three categories namely; low, medium and high adoption score based on their mean and standard deviation.
The extent of adoption was studied for individual practices and overall adoption bahaviour. The relation between the adoption behaviour of the farmers and the independent variables was studied by correlation and regression analysis.
Full adopters: a farmer using the specific goat health technology at the recommended level.
Partial adopter: a farmer using the specific goat health technology below recommended level.
Non-adopter: a farmer not using the specific goat health technology.
3.3.1.23.1 Goat health technologies selected:
i. The first technology, vaccination, refers to remedies used to prevent infectious diseases.
ii. The second technology, internal parasite remedies, refers to remedies used to control internal parasites.
iii. The third technology, external parasite remedies, refers to remedies used to control external parasites.
iv. The fourth technology, use of disinfectants, refers to chemical agent which kills harmful microorganisms. Poor sanitation is frequently overlooked as one of the main contributing factors to the spread of disease.
v. The fifth technology, veterinarian’s services, refers to visits to or from a veterinary doctor.
3.3.1.24 Sustainability of goat health technology: Sustainability referred to the effective management of resources for improving the standard of living of the adopters and at the same time, the environment protection and conservation can also be ensured. Moreover, it has been realized that people should manage their own resources by means of their effective participation, so that our development programmes can be need-based, pro-people and more dynamic in nature (Panigrahi, 2004). The index consists of a total 8 dimensions. The sustainability score was obtained by summing up scores of all the 8 dimensions for each of the respondent and percentage was computed. The respondents were then categorized into three categories namely; low (Mean-SD), medium (Mean+SD) and high (Mean+SD) sustainability. Eight dimensions were also taken individually to study the sustainability of goat health technologies after categorizing each of them according to mean scores by the respondents.
3.3.1.24.1 Selected dimensions of perceived sustainability
(i) Technological appropriability: It referred to how far the technology, be it an vaccination, internal parasite remedies, external parasite remedies, disinfectants and veterinarians services suits the social and infrastructural situation of end users.
(ii) Economic viability: It referred to the returns to investments of every rupee counts.
(iii) Environmental soundness: It referred to whether the technology results in enriching the environment or at least did not harm the existing ecological conditions.
(iv) Local adaptability: It referred to the extent to which the technology was adaptable to the existing local conditions of the farmers.
(v) Social acceptability: It referred to the extent to which the technology was acceptable by the different sections of the society.
(vi) Government policy: It referred to whether the technology could be used unhampered in the existing political set-up.
(vii) Cultural compatibility: It referred to the extent to which the technology was fitted within the cultural patterns and values of the society.
(viii) Productivity: It was a quantitative measure of the rate and the amount of production per unit input.
3.3.1.25 Faecal examination: It referred to collection and scientific examination of faecal sample by using McMaster egg counting technique to determine the number of egg per gram of faeces (epg). It provided information with regard to severity of infection. Faecal sample were taken directly from the rectum with the help of index finger to avoid contamination. When it was difficult to take rectal sample, then fresh faeces were collected from the field or floor. Only top of the faecal lump, untouched with earth was lifted.
3.3.1.25.1 McMaster egg counting technique: Purpose
The McMaster technique is used for counting helminth eggs in faecal samples. It is the most widely employed method for this purpose.
3.3.1.25.2 McMaster egg counting technique: Principle
The McMaster technique uses a counting chamber which enables a known volume of faecal suspension to be examined microscopically. Thus, if a known weight of faeces and a known volume of flotation fluid are used to prepare the suspension, then the number of eggs per gram of faeces (epg) can be calculated.
[...]
- Quote paper
- Rajesh Kumar (Author), 2021, Goat Health Technologies. Adoption And Sustainability, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1150160
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